Design
Charting the Historical Popularity of First Names
Parents aren’t naming kids “Osama” that often anymore.
As a kid who came dangerously close to being named Theophilus before his siblings intervened, I have to hand it to my parents for their prediction skills. That awful moniker (sorry, Theophili!) is enjoying a comeback, with a record 38 babies receiving the name in 2014:
This insight comes from the magazine Braid, which has crafted a nice tool for exploring the historical popularity of names. Using data from the Social Security Administration, it graphs trends from the 1940s (most common names: James, Mary) up to 2012 (Jacob, Sophia). It’s an eye-opening way to spend a few minutes, though it doesn’t get into the musty findings from the bottom of the records cabinet, like the fact there were 21,724 babies named Minnie in the 1880s.